A gas turbine engine may be used to power various types of vehicles and systems. A particular type of gas turbine engine that may be used to power aircraft is a turbofan gas turbine engine. A turbofan gas turbine engine may include, for example, a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. The fan section is positioned at the front, or “inlet” section of the engine, and includes a fan that induces air from the surrounding environment into the engine, and compresses a fraction of this air into the compressor section. The remaining fraction of air induced into the fan section is compressed into and through a bypass duct, and expanded out the exhaust section to produce thrust.
The compressor section further raises the pressure of the air it receives from the fan section to a relatively high level. In a multi-spool engine, the compressor section may include two or more compressors, such as, for example, a high pressure compressor and a low pressure compressor. The compressed air from the compressor section then enters the combustor section, where fuel nozzles inject a steady stream of fuel into a plenum formed by liner walls and a dome. The injected fuel is ignited in the combustor, which significantly increases the energy of the compressed air. The high-energy, compressed air from the combustor section then flows into and through the turbine section, causing rotationally mounted turbine blades to rotate and generate energy. The air exiting the turbine section is exhausted from the engine via the exhaust section, and the energy remaining in the exhaust air aids the thrust generated by the air flowing through the bypass duct.
Gas turbine engines may be configured to divert a portion of the high-energy, compressed air from the compressor section for use in other aircraft systems. For example, some of the diverted air may be used for an aircraft environmental control system (ECS), an aircraft anti ice system, or other system. To ensure that the diverted air can be used for the aircraft systems, it is typically precooled by a heat exchanger or an air conditioning system. Conventionally, the heat exchanger or air conditioning system may be disposed in a section of the aircraft that is not adjacent to the engine. As a result, additional ducting and components are typically used to flow the diverted air to the heat exchanger or air conditioning system. However, the additional ducting and components may add unwanted weight and cost to the aircraft, which may be undesirable as the demand for more economical aircraft continues to increase.
Hence, there is a need for a cooling system that may be implemented into existing aircraft without substantially increasing weight and cost. Moreover, it is desirable to have a cooling system that may be implemented by adding a minimal number of additional components to the aircraft.